Read, I Write.

Lately, I had been so busy. Busy with work. Too busy in fact that I had barely enough time to think. Hence, the silence. I am having a downtime now. I presume it is the calm before the storm.

After all, with a store opening in the next two weeks - at Venetian Macau, no less and a MANGO flagship store, to boot, with 3 stores’ grand opening events taking place every forthnight beginning late next month and 5 more stores already in the designing stages, I will soon be back in my can’t-hardly-breathe-work-early-yet-still-work-at-home groove.

I like being busy. I love it when I have gazillion things to do. It makes me feel like a rubber band getting stretched too wide yet getting back to its old form when it is through. Stretched maybe yet much better than before.

Store opening is one great, big roller coaster ride. I feel as if each new store is a baby that I nourished from conception to birth. Once, they are open, they become practically like my children, with each of their own special needs I have to look into. I find it fulfilling. I find it real knock-me-off-my-feet fulfilling because doing all these things simultaneously is just so darn satisfying. It is like solving on a rush a big box of 10,000 pieces jigsaw puzzle and getting them all to fit with only a few moments to spare.

I am good at this. It feels great to be good at what I have chosen to do. I could do it forever and a day. Each difficulty, each hardship I go through just keeps on making me better for other more complex things to do. Not everyone finds the one job they like doing. The perks are just but an icing on the cake, doing what I like doing is just what keeps this most interesting.

Pictures of my "babies" a.k.a. the Mango stores I helped get opened will soon follow. I was even told that they are among the Top Ten most elegantly designed Mango stores in China and gawd! That makes me feel so proud.

And that’s JoAnn, on the home front.

Not Santa Claus, dummy?!? I wrote what. Duh?!?

Well…on my way to work today, I saw this so greatly familiar mascot that I know by heart! Those big eyes, the built-in smile, the small wings compared to its big body and the colors of yellow, red and white that I can recognize even when I am asleep.

Ta-dahhhh…they are building a Jollibee store here in Shenzhen! Whoppeee do dah! That will sure keep homesickness at bay.

Where else can buy fried chicken with rice? Where else can I get the halo halo I crave and die for during the hot weather? Where else can I have palabok when I feel like it?

I know Jollibee is nothing compared to other Fine Filipino restaurants but hey, I rather have Jollibee than the oh-so-regular KFCs and McDonald’s.

That’s one more reason why I am glad I am in Shenzhen…

Hmm, I wonder when they’ll have a Metrobank here or a Page 1? Because when that happens, I no longer need to go to HK at all. Booyah!

In a month’s time, we will open 3 Mango stores. It does not help that one’s up north, another’s in midland China and another one in Macau. I do not speak Chinese but I have a retinue of our Chinese staff helping me out in the process. After this set of stores, we already have another 3 stores in the pipeline. Gawd! I am even opening Mango stores in my sleep already.

Oh well, Joel. C’est la vie. I wanted to be busy so life gave me all the busy-ness I can handle. I like my life this way but sometimes, I catch myself wondering where my day went and that is so weird. It seems that as if my life is going on a supersonic speed and there’s just no way for me to slow down.

Anyways, one have to do what one is got to do. Besides, I am good at this so I might as well enjoy it.

That’s all for now. I just took some time off work so that I can breathe…inhale…exhale! That’s it. Now, let’s get the ball rolling!!! Life, I am taking you on. Hehehe…

…EJ is number 3 in her class. Like mother, like daughter truly, in all sense of the phrase! This is why I LOVE being a MOM.

…EJ and I are closer than ever. We may be physically away from each other but we are always so open when we talk to each other.

…EJ is hell-bent about being a doctor. I so look forward to sending her to med school and to seeing her graduate. This early on, I can already see myself looking like the "youngest" among all moms present. hahaha!

…EJ and I will have some time off after my business trip back home.

…from a starting as a project coordinator for our company’s Mango business, I got to be assigned its Project Manager in less than 6 months. This is so cool. So early in the game and I already get to handle the different departments under this new business.

…the Chairman of our company thinks I am big ASSET of our company that he see me handling bigger and better things in the next 2 years.

…I am traveling to Chengdu for 4 days next week to oversee the grand opening of our new Mango store there. Whoooppppeeee! Free clothes, free shoes, free trips, free food, what more can I ask for?

…I am wearing 3 caps at work these days. I am the team head of our overseas uniforms department, I am the marketing coordinator for our clothing brand’s franchisees in Vietnam, the Philippines, Indonesia and Malaysia and I am the Project Manager of our Mango business. Give me more. I just thrive well in a very busy environment.

…I am traveling to the Philippines for 7 days early next month to undergo my operations training.

…my desk is no longer located at the first floor. I am now working at the executive floor, where the CEO, senior managers and directors are. Presently, I am the only WOMAN manager here and the only Filipino, to boot. Take that, male chauvinist pigs! hahaha!

…that aside from my recent salary increase, I have housing allowance, food allowance, house utilities allowance (which I maximize by renting a cheap yet comfy place!) and phone bills allowance. I have an expense account. My HK mobile number’s bills are paid for by the company. I get free Theme clothes every season (S/S & F/W) worth RMB 4,000.00 and if I’d want more clothes, I can just buy them at 50% off if they exceed my clothing allowance.

…I am learning how to speak Chinese more and more.  Niga… niga… ting pudong! hehe!

…I understand a considerable number of Chinese words already.

…I may soon get to visit Spain for work purposes.  Our company already sent me to the US once (with a 10 year multi-entry visa) so it will be fairly easy for them to send me to Spain next.

…the Universe truly conspired to make all these things happen to ME.

…I am not only LUCKY, that GOD always has my back. I feel RICH, beyond words, beyond the material things and beyond all I can ever imagine. My FAITH made all these possible.

Just a few things about Shenzhen:

• It is so big that most people call Shenzhen sub-provincial. No wonder, really…within the city, there’s a different minimum wage requirements for Futian (the Central Business District, where our head office is), Bao’an (a municipality known for manufacturing), Songgang and the rest.
• It is number 7 in the top ten safest cities in China, behind Hong Kong, Shanghai, Beijing and 3 other cities I now cannot recall. Shenzhen fall behind because the number of incoming and outgoing migrant workers here are totally way beyond the charts.
• It is number 3 (hip, hip hoorrraaayyy!) in the top ten most beautiful cities in China, behind Hong Kong and Beijing only! I can see and feel how utterly beautiful Shenzhen is. It has been my home for the last 3 years now and I just cannot help but always be awed of it again and again.
• It is one of the top ten fastest growing cities in the world and to be here when all these growth are taking place, whoa! Talk about the feeling of being in the right place at the right time.
• Western fast food places can be found anywhere here like McDonald’s (Mai Dang Lau in Chinese), KFC (Kendaji), Starbucks (you can even find them at bookstores!), Pizza Hut, Taco Bell Grande, Papa John’s (the Pizzas there are JUST to die for!) and Subway. Papa John’s delivers (we have one close to home and one close to work!) and Subway, too (we only have one near work).
• As for Western grocery places, there’s Wal-Mart, Carrefour and Metro. There’s even B & Q. 
• This place is truly a wonder because just less than 30 years ago, this place just used to be swamplands.

If Lucena City is my hometown, Shenzhen is my HOME away from home. I just so LOVE it here.

One of my officemates saw my tattoo the other day and he
asked me if I will allow my daughter to have a tattoo someday…I said yes but
only when she is over 21 already. That way, she can make an informed decision
about it.

And that office exchange gave me a new
blog topic to write about. Things I will allow my daughter to do. Which I
believe is a good topic now that my daughter is 14 and soon, she’d be 18 and
can already be considered as an adult.

Well, here goes:

1) She can ONLY have a boyfriend when she is already 18. Before that
age, she has to present a very good and tight argument why she should and if
she convinces me, maybe, JUST maybe, she can have a boyfriend sooner.

2) As for clothes, well, considering the times, then she can wear what
she sees other girls her age wear. I am never conservative and I have my share
of miniskirts, tight clothes and spaghetti-strapped tops, hence, if I can wear
them, so can she.

3) No smoking until she already earns her own keep. I stopped smoking
so that I can have a longer time to see her bloom so it will be both for our
best that she bears the costs if she wants to take up smoking.

4) Drinking. Hmmmm…She can start at 18 but better that she only drinks
what she can bear. No drinking beyond what she is capable of. I can even show
her how to know how much she can bear or not.

5) As for tattoos and body piercing, fine by me but not until after she
turns 21 and I will only say yes, if the tattoo and/or body piercing can only
be seen when deliberately shown i.e. back, abdomen, butt, anywhere hidden.
Anywhere where she will not be judged simultaneously as soon as seen!

6) Going first base – 18

7) Going second base – 18

 Going third base – when she finishes college.

9) The whole nine yards – when she finishes college.

10) Getting married – Only when she is SURE that the guy loves her as
much as she loves him and when she already has work that she is happy with.

Bottomline though is that all those
written above are only her guidelines and the final decision-making is still up
to her. After all, I may be her mom but she is she and only she knows what will
be best for her.

I can guide her through the path she
wants to take but I should try my best not to intervene because I know she will
only learn well when she has gone through life on her own.

Being her mom though, I am torn. As I
have seen how life ultimately is, I cannot help myself at times, so I try to
steer her away from what I perceive to be life’s landmines. I do not really
want to intercede yet I rather that she get mad at me than see her suffer the
pains that life throws her way.

Oh, well, a mom got to do what a mom got
to do. I can only LOVE her as much as I can, guide her through life the best
way I can and hope that somehow, she knows that all these, I am doing for her
and for her alone.

·         I feel God in my life. Lately, there had been countless times when I can say that I feel more than blessed. Lately, I always catch myself saying prayers of gratitude for the graces I receive day in and day out. His Presence is so life-affirming that life just takes on a bigger and deeper meaning every time I feel His all-knowing guidance in my life.

·         I hear Ej’s Voice. I work abroad. My daughter is back home. Every time I hear her voice, I feel as if I am on top of the world. There’s just NO voice that can make me feel as alive. Her voice is the one sound that wakes up every single cell of my being. Her voice is the one sound that I do not mind hearing any time of the day. Her pleasing voice is the one voice I find REAL hard to say no to. Her voice is the one voice whose power on me knows no boundaries. Her voice makes me feel so happy to my innermost core. Her voice keeps loneliness at bay. Her voice with all its wit and charm, makes me smile like a newly escaped lunatic. My life will not be as it is if I do not have access to her voice!

·         Work. I love what I do. I like what I am doing. It is not everyday that we find the one thing we are good at and love it fully. I am one of the fortunate ones. I found the one JOB I love to do which I am REAL good at. Excelling at it takes no effort because how can I work too hard at something that I just cannot get enough of? I love it the most when I do not have working hours to finish all that I have to do. Going from one minute to the next doing my work feels so seamless. I just breeze through it feeling more alive as each minute goes by. 

·         Eating good food - especially if I prepared them myself! I realized this yesterday as I was enjoying the homemade salad I had for dinner. Hahaha! Sounds strange I know, but the sensual experiences of the great aromatic blends of the Italian vinaigrette, fresh greens, feta cheese and eggs are just too heady to be described; the luscious, crisp, crunchy and juicy tastes of the mixture of cucumbers, carrots, lettuce, cherry tomatoes, sweet corn and cheese; the delicious and colorful sights of ingredients! Wow! How can I just not feel alive right then and there?!? Worthy tip to all you salad lovers out there – Prepare them a day before, keep chilled and have it for lunch, with a slight dash of pepper and salt. If it does not do to you what it do to me, let me know, I will make you the salad myself.

·         Being Asked to Write Reports. Especially when the deadlines I set for myself is way ahead of the time the reports are actually expected on. Being the OC that I am, I not only like meeting the deadlines set by my bosses, I even like setting myself deadlines much earlier than the deadlines than that they give me. I know that sounds a “trifle” obsessive but hey, as long as I only impose this on myself that should be okay. Hehe…I even go as far putting in all the answers to the questions that may arise from the report I make. Not because I am eager to impress (although, I can say a wee bit of myself is!) but I rather not spend time and time again revising reports asked of me. Why it makes me feel alive? Well, when it is my mind that is doing my work for me, when it is coming up with solutions and coming up plans to handle present situations, I just cannot get enough of the ideas that come to me and of which I always find ways to defend.

·         Reading Good Books. Books are enriching. Books make you live different lives at different times. It is so engaging to immerse oneself in a good book where the story just livens up one’s imaginations endlessly.

·         In the mornings. There is something about the promises that each new day brings that always excite me to the core. I cannot wait to get out of our home as soon as I am good and ready because I know I am facing the day head on. There’s just so many things that can make one see how wondrous life is in the morning – the sun shining, the people opening their shops, the birds chirping, small kids going to school and just about everything I am totally grateful for.

Para sa lahat na naaapektuhan ng mababang palitan ng pera dahil sa pagtaas ng halaga ng Philippine Peso, makilagda tayo sa petisyong mabigyan ng espesyal na halaga ang palitan ng ating mga pinadadala.

Ang petisyon ay nasa:

http://petition.patnubay.com 

Para sa mga kapamilya nating di dapat magtipid habang tayo ay nagsusumikap sa malalayong lugar.

Mabuhay ang Pilipino! Mabuhay ang mga OFWs. :)   

5+ years, 2 companies, 5 homes, 4 bosses, a wealth of experiences good and bad, a horde of great friends from near and far and countless of a**holes and b!tches after, I am still HERE!

Here’s to more years in China, to being the mother my daughter needs, to keep on doing the work I LOVE doing, to meeting more people, to living the life I deserve, to continue learning from all things that come my way and to knowing that whatever happens, God always has my back.

I just SO love my LIFE. Do you?

…that when I decided to write a blog again, blogs are now banned in China. Geez! What is the world getting into? It is not as if ALL people write subversive stuffs or damning facts about where I am. Truth be told, China should undo this ban - after all, they already unblocked Wikipedia after a considerable time of blocking it here.

Weird. This is weird, but hey, this is one those things when one can say "Only in China!".